To evaluate clinical and laboratory parameters of polycythemia vera patients WHO applied to adult hematology policlinic

Purpose: To evaluate the demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory parameters, treatment methods and complications of polycythemia vera(PV) patients who applied to Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital Internal Medicine Hematology Policlinic. Method: The data of the patients diagnosed with polycythaemia vera (n:54) who applied to our policlinic between 2013-2018 years were analyzed retrospectively. We investigated the age, gender, clinical features, laboratory values, treatment options and complications of the patients included in the study. Results: 32 (59%) of the patients were male and 22 were female (41%). The mean age at diagnosis was 56 years. The rate of patients who developed thrombosis before the diagnosis was 15% (8 patients) and the rate of thrombosis after the diagnosis was 17% (9 patients). When we compared the data of patients who had undergone thrombosis and had no history of thrombosis, we found that gender had a statistically significant difference on thrombosis (p = 0.013). The risk of developing thrombosis was higher in female gender. The rate of bleeding was 7% (4 patients). The most common type of bleeding was bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract (50%). The risk of bleeding was higher in the patients who developed thrombosis before the diagnosis and statistically significant (p = 0.040). No hematological transformation was observed in any of our patients. Conclusion: Polycythemia vera is mainly a disease of advanced age and is more common in men. In our study, most of the patients were over 50 years of age and the majority of male patients were consistent with the literature. Disease-related symptoms were frequent and present in 92% of patients. Headache complaint is the most common symptom and 53% of the patients had it. Our 6 patients were diagnosed with PV while being investigated for thrombosis. When we examined the treatment options, the most common treatment was acetylsalicylic acid + hydroxyurea + phlebotomy (54%) combination therapy. In addition, thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications that cause significant mortality and morbidity in patients with polycythemia vera are observed. The most common complication is thrombosis. Multiple factors have been implicated in the etiology of complications. In our study, thrombosis was the most common complication similar to the literature. In 8 patients before diagnosis and in 9 patients after the diagnosis developed thrombosis. The development of thrombosis was observed at an older age, was more frequent in the female gender and statistically significant. Hemorrhagic complications were seen in 4 patients and half of these patients were receiving antiaggregant therapy. In addition, hemorrhagic complications were more common in patients with a history of thrombosis before diagnosis and in patients with splenomegaly. Hematological transformation was not detected in any of our patients.